Well, I don’t think anyone saw this one coming or maybe I’ve just had my blinders on during the entire Destiny’s Child sega. It seems that former member of the platinum selling group is emerging as an entirely different talent than the demire songbird capable of only carrying the bridge and holding down background vocals. On her upcoming solo album she’s not only flashing a new style but she’s also projecting her talented voice.

Her first single from the album “We Break the Dawn” is a grabber. Though it is a little T-Painish, I can hear it pumping in every gay club in America. Her vocals are definitely better than the ones she had to display during her run with DC ( kinda makes you wonder if all the rumors about DC management wanting Beyonce’s vocals to outshine everyone else’s in the group were true). Her new sexy promo pictures go perfectly with this spunky song. She also get props for getting her name, sound and pictures out before the day her album drops…Kelly should be taking notes for her next album.

Al Sharpton has called foul on yet another blatant act of racism. Is it to protest the interracial couple being thrown out of a private club in Arkansas? No. Was there more police brutality that resulted in the death of an innocent person? No. Did a school board vote to return to segregation in a small town in the South? No (coincidentally that is happening and no sign of Rev. Sharpton here). No, the incident that has caused a media war between Rev. Shapton and gossip media giant TMZ is an article the gossip site wrote on Ms. Beyonce after the BET Awards two weeks ago. In the article, Beyonce’s scanky outfit was referred to as “Roboho”. Stop the damn presses! Someone said something negative about Beyonce. Well, we need to pull out our signs and put on our walking shoes and prepare to march in protest. How dare they say something negative about the institution that is Beyonce. Give me a f**king break!

The argument can’t be that they call Beyonce a hoe…and so what if they did she’s not the only person they’ve called a hoe or slut or scank. One thing I can say about TMZ is that they are truly and equal opportunity insulter. No one is safe from their insults…not a slutty Paris Hilton or a trailer trash Brittney Spears who are subject to insults on a daily basis by TMZ. Why should Beyonce be spared…because she’s black? If Beyonce were the only celebrity that TMZ insulted in this manner then the Reverend would have a leg to stand on, but that is not true in this case.

There is enough social and racial injustice left in the world that there is no need for the good reverend go make something out of nothing. If he needs something or someone to protest then he should be marching outside of VH1 studios for the ongoing negative light in which, they portray black women. This network openly cast women whom present themselves as, uneducated and ignorant sexpots. I am much more offended by this network portraying black women as dumb, bootylicious, skanky, gold digging hoes, willing to degrade and devalue themselves for a man or money. There’s a cause that should have called the good reverend to arms.

In 2004 Mistress of Ceremony, comedian MoNique opened the award show joined by six other vulumptuous women to recreate Beyonce’s 2003 award show performance of her hit song “Crazy in Love”…booty dance included. Her performance has been held as the most entertaining moment in BET Award Show history. It was brilliant not only because it was both creative and innovative but also because the ladies performed the routine much better than anyone thought that a big girl would or could. Those ladies really gave it a 110%.

So when MoNique was asked to host again this year the big question was, “Is she going to do another Beyonce dance routine?”. The answer came in the form of MoNique again joind by oversized dancers performing yet another rendition of a Beyonce track. This time it was “Deja Vue” and even though it’s always good to see a big girl give her dancing shoes a workout, I really wished she had come out of left field with something or someone new to impersonate. For instance, Ciara who always has an amazing dance routine. Now I would have been out of my seat if she could have done any part of Ciara’s routine because that girl just puts on a show.

MoNique Opening BET Awards 2004

The major difference in the performances, to me, is that when she first performed her Beyonce tribute poor Beyonce had no idea that it was going to happen and reacted accordingly. Her surprised reaction was truly genuine and she seemed to enjoy the performance just as much as the rest of the audience. This year it was evident that she was expecting to see MoNique bouncing across the stage mimicking her dance moves and so the surprise factor was missing. Again, maybe if MoNique would have come out and performed Rihanna’s “S.O.S”…completely unexpected, completely out of left field.

I have to give it to MoNique for giving an A+ effort but I was hoping for a little bit more in the way of creativity. But that’s just my opinion, you be the judge.

Well, I watched the BET Awards 2007 and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Usually, the BET Awards are only good for one or two performances and they move soooo slow, but those are just some of the things that come along with an Award show that is still in it’s infancy. This show was really very good and I managed to watch the entire show. I never get into who won what because these shows are set up to give awards to whomever is the hottest thing going at the time.

Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Holiday Duet

The show started out on a very HIGH note with the vocal acrobatics of Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Holiday singing “And I’m telling you I’m not going” as a duet. It sounded like church…a black church and though it was a little bit over the top for me, it was still of very moving performance. Both ladies showcased why there has been so much praise over their vocal talents in singing this particular song.

Beyonce

Monique repeated her rendition of Beyonce this year bringing her fellow big girls on stage to break it down to Beyonce’s “Deja Vue”. She even got LL Cool J to remove her heel…and what lady wouldn’t want that. Beyonce stayed innovative with her entrance as a robot and it created an instant buzz in the after show. I accredit to her star status because besides the entrance, she didn’t do anything different from the video for the song “Get Me Bodied” which is the song that she performed. I did like that she brought Monique out on the stage with her to dance a lil’ bit.

Kelly Rowland

Beyonce’s performance and the introduction of Ms. Kelly Rowland ran concurrently. Kelly really let her sexy out tonight and with her perfect body and legs that seem to go on forever she gave her best performance with Eve of her song “Like This” that I’ve seen to date. Kelly and Beyonce were joined by Solange, Beyonce’s little sister, and fellow Destiny’s Child member Michelle.

Diddy, Keisha Cole and Lil’ Kim

Let me say, I am not a Puff Daddy…excuse me, Diddy fan. He and Keisha Cole were joined on stage by Lil’ Kim to perform Diddy’s “Last Night”. The audience were very excited to have Lil’ Kim on the stage performing. Keisha’s vocals were perfect and I was pleasantly surprised that Diddy’s performance actually warranted the applause he received.

Ne-yo

Ne-yo put on a good show visually with his song “Because of You” but his singing was really lacking. He was joined on stage by Fabolous (I know he spells it like that for trademarking reasons but I hate that spelling) for the song “You Make Me Better”.

T.I.

T.I.’s performance was good also, but he’s always a crowd mover. He give more energy than most rappers now and days and it’s always funny to watch him talk to himself at the beginning of his performance. I was glad to see him apologized for his behavior earlier in the week (it was rumored that he punched Ludacris’ s manager Chaka Zulu earlier in the week at a charity event). It showed how much of a man he really is.

Gerald Levert Tribute

The Gerald Levert tribute by Eddie Levert, Pattie LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Yolanda Adams started out very beautiful, but turned into another vocal acrobatics show starring Pattie LaBelle. The idea was beautiful and that was enough to make keep me tuned in. Public Enemy’s tribute to James Brown was more of a tribute to Public Enemy. They did various old Public Enemy hits and only one James Brown song “I’m Black and I’m Proud’. I guess that they’ve sampled so much of his music that any of their songs really are a tribute to James Brown.

Ciara
Ciara gave a good performance, as usual her vocals weren’t as good as her dancing, but she really makes you want to get and “try” some of her moves, but then reality sinks in and you realize…hey this girl is in phenomenal shape. I wonder if the rumors about she and 50 are true. Probably not, besides if it is and they want to keep that secret who am I to complain.

Robin Thicke

Robin Thicke, a fan favorite, performed his hit “Lost Without You”. He maintain that soft high pitch sound and manage to get a little dancing in during the bridge

50 cents

Last but not least in the performance categories, Fifty cents…Curtis Jackson, as he’s known by the government, gave the wackest performance of the night. For almost a month BET’s been running this promotion featuring 50 in where the viewers at home vote by internet or via text message for which song he’d perform at the award show. The public chose “Amusement Park” and visually the stage was set for an entertaining performance. That is until 50 came out at and walked around the stage and in the audience through the entire first verse just holding his mic. His hype man didn’t know what to do and just continued calling his name, in hopes that 50 would start the performance. It is rumored that BET asked him not to perform the first verse, but if that true couldn’t he have cleaned up the verse or written a whole new one. He is supposed to be a rapper…isn’t he. He sucked! Plain and simple.

The Diana Ross Tribute

The show paid tribute Gerald Levert and Jame Brown, but the Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Diana Ross. Her life was celebrated through her songs being sung by Chaka Khan, Erykah Bahdu and Stevie Wonder. Don Cheadle was given the Humanitarian award for his work in bringing awareness to Darfur. He seemed in just as much disbelief of receiving an award as Oscar Winning American dreamgirl, Jennifer Hudson, who continuously remark on her disbelief of receiving an award when she doesn’t even have an album out. If you missed the show don’t worry, I’m sure BET will be showing it over and over and over and over….